New Delhi: Two Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Partap Singh Bajwa (Punjab) and Amee Harshadray Yajnik (Gujarat) moved Monday the Supreme Court to challenge the rejection of the impeachment notice against CJI Dipak Misra by the Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu on the ground that there was ‘no proved misbehaviour’.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is also one of the signatories of the impeachment notice, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar. The bench, also comprising Justice SK Kaul, asked Sibal and advocate Prashant Bhushan to mention the matter before the CJI for urgent listing, citing a Constitution Bench judgment on powers of master of roster.
Both Justice Chelameswar and Justice Kaul went into a huddle and asked Sibal and Bhushan to come Tuesday so they could take a call on the issue. Sibal said he was aware of the Constitution Bench judgment on master of roster, and added that since the impeachment notice concerns the CJI the senior-most judge of the apex court can order for listing.
“I am aware of the procedure but it can’t be mentioned anywhere else. A person cannot be a judge in his own cause. I am just asking for urgent listing and not seeking any interim relief,” Sibal told the bench.
Justice Kaul asked Sibal, who has drafted the petition, whether the plea had been numbered. Sibal replied that they have filed a petition in the Registry but they are not willing to number it.
Sibal ‘requested’ the court to pass some orders on when the petition is to be heard and who can hear the matter.
Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu had April 23 rejected the notice, given by opposition parties led by the Congress for impeachment of the CJI.
Agencies